I’m just curious here. Has anyone who’s been critical of Aaron Murray’s performance in his first two seasons as Georgia’s starting quarterback asked this question: “Is QB Aaron Murray Ready to Emerge from Matthew Stafford’s Shadow?” I sure haven’t.

There’s little question that Stafford’s arm was the best to ever grace the Georgia program. But statistically speaking, Matt’s first two seasons fall far behind Aaron’s. And while it’s true that Georgia never lost a bowl game during Stafford’s career, Georgia never played in an SECCG, either.

My point here isn’t to denigrate either kid. Both are DGDs in my book. I just found this to be a strange criticism of Murray. What you y’all think?

When the SEC expanded in 1992, it was a football-driven move. Roy Kramer knew what he wanted, personally drove the train and pushed it through. I don’t think anyone questions that it worked brilliantly.

Fast forward to the present round of expansion. My impression has been that Mike Slive saw (or, just as likely, heard from his constituents) that the groundbreaking TV contracts he’d negotiated just a few seasons ago had lost some of their shine and the conference needed a reason to reopen them. Moving to do so, Slive didn’t control the process as Kramer saw fit to do. Instead, he operated more as a collaborator.

But Slive and the school presidents were also interested in their reputation.

They know that nationally there is still the perception of the SEC as a conference that doesn’t take academics seriously. They are aware that some in other conferences, such as the Big Ten, Pac-12 or ACC, look down on the SEC’s reputation.

“Often times this league is under-appreciated for the quality of our institutions academically,” Slive said.

Only two of the 12 schools — Florida and Vanderbilt — are members of the prestigious Association of American Universities, a research consortium. By adding Texas A&M and Missouri, the SEC doubled its membership in the 61-member AAU.

The hope for SEC presidents is that by adding two good schools, the larger image of the conference improves. It may sound silly to fans, but to school presidents who sit in rooms and make decisions, it is a major factor. [Emphasis added.]

“I think at the core of it it’s the most important thing,” Missouri athletics director Mike Alden said. “From the surface of that many people see that window of athletics and in particular football. But I think once you get down to the core of it, and what you’re trying to do as an institution to really raise the awareness of your brand, academically and research-wise.”

Slive was asked if he hopes this helps improve the image of the SEC.

“Yes, the answer is yes,” he said. “But I would put it more in context. We weren’t really gonna expand. And we were not out looking to expand. But when institutions of these quality come, and they bring the outstanding academic institutions, they have commitment to broad-based athletic programs …”

It’s not that it sounds silly to fans. It’s that the conference has essentially butchered its football and basketball scheduling over an ill-conceived move (given all the angst leading up to and through the spring meetings, there’s really no other way to characterize it) that was driven by little more than the collective egos of the SEC presidents. You can already hear the peals of “I’ve left the SEC in better shape than I found it when I became Georgia’s president” in Michael Adams’ farewell speech, can’t you?

I’m so glad it’s made them feel better. Because if we fans don’t share their satisfaction by continuing to support the game in the way we have since 1992, at least they’ll have their enhanced academic reputation and new TV moneys to keep them warm at nights.

Q: Do you, as a head coach, say, ‘This is what I believe in and, you, as the coordinator this is what I want’ as opposed to saying ‘we need to run play X or play Y’?

A: “My role is to conceptually build what I think wins. That’s why I hire the guys I hire because they’re going to believe in the same things I believe in. That’s where it starts. Week to week, we always have a plan and we’re on the same page. I don’t call the games, but I’m certainly involved with suggestions at different times and can give a bird’s eye view sometimes. I’ve been a coordinator. I can say, ‘Coach, just beware that you’ve blitzed four times in a row.’ I see things that I think can be very helpful because I’ve been in that spot. Or ‘we’ve played so much base defense, we’ve got to get aggressive on this down.’ That’s where I feel like I can give a perspective.”

But at least Chizik’s gonna help a brotha out by having the offense huddle more, so there’s that.

Quote Of The Day

“It's definitely different not knowing exactly who it's gonna be, but in a way, I feel like that's good,” he said. “One of my old coaches from Valdosta told me that competition is one of the best coaches. And I feel like, as well as each one of those three guys is performing, they're not gonna do anything but make each other better.” -- Jay Rome, The Red & Black, 3/25/15